Poll: Is It Politically Advantageous for Obama to Cut Medicare and Social Security?

Is it politically advantageous for President Obama to offer Medicare and Social Security cuts in his budget?

DEMOCRATS (99 VOTES)

Yes: 57% No: 43%

Yes

“He looks reasonable and responsible. Puts the lie to the Republican demands for entitlement reform.”

“May be the only way to get a budget deal, but there will be big-time blowback from the Democratic base.”

“But only if he gets a big deal. Otherwise, it becomes the new starting point for negotiations.”

“Everyone inside the Beltway knows those programs have to be trimmed, and leaving them out would have strained credulity.”

“Depends on how you define ‘politically advantageous.’ For his legacy, yes. For Democratic candidates in 2014, no.”

“The president and the Democrats badly need a budget deal, because the president’s numbers will determine the election results in ’14.”

“The winner in politics is most often the person who seems most reasonable. The president seems to understand that better than the tea party and the Republican leadership.”

No

“One would think that he learned in his first term that starting in the middle doesn’t end well.”

“2014 will be a turnout election—we need an electrified base to win. We saw what happened in 2010 when the base wasn’t motivated.”

“Bad politics. Good government.”

“The president lost seniors in 2012, as he had in 2008. But even more important, he lost voters [ages] 50-64, which he had not lost [in 2008]. This makes getting those voters harder.”

“Once again, he has started negotiating before the negotiations start. Ouch!”

“Dumb as dumb can be.”

“A significant portion of his base will wither away if he does.”

“Since the New Deal, Democrats have been the ones who stand up for working people. What gives?”

Is it politically advantageous for President Obama to offer Medicare and Social Security cuts in his budget?

REPUBLICANS (100 VOTES)

Yes: 73% No: 27%

Yes

“He needs to make at least a pass at entitlement reform to have any credibility in talking about getting to a balanced budget.”

“Finally looks like he’s fiscally responsible; and [this] allows him to triangulate and look like he’s fighting the left wing of the party on something.”

“It tells people he is serious about the budget and sets up a trade of entitlement cuts for revenues. He does not want to go down in history as the president who killed Medicare through inaction.”

“He needs to change the public perception of his stance on government spending.”

“Tough call. His base will hate it. Swing voters want to see these messes cleaned up.”

“If good policy is good politics, then not addressing the most obvious threat to our fiscal stability is bad politics.”

“Obama can win either way, politically. If a plan passes, he’s seen as having made a crucial concession to get it done. And if it doesn’t, he can further isolate Republicans going into the midterm elections.”

“The president must think of his legacy now—eight years of ignoring desperately needed entitlement reform would show an utter lack of courage.”

No

“Voters who support reforms in entitlement spending never supported him and never will. Why anger his base?”

“It’s the right thing to do, but he never gets the cover he needs from his entitlement-society friends in the Democratic Party, and he won’t see the fight all the way through [to a deal].”

“Can’t imagine any scenario where it helps him politically to hover over that third rail. Every one of his constituencies and the vast majority of his party will be up in arms, and it hardly makes it more likely that Republicans will work with him.”